This piece looks at whether Americans should rely on AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude to prepare their taxes, finding that while they can help explain concepts and organize information, they frequently make errors and cannot replace professional tax tools or advisers.

Key takeaways:

1. About one in four Americans report using or planning to use AI chatbots for tax prep help, but experts cited in the article say these tools can produce outdated, incomplete, or simply incorrect answers, especially when tax rules change or depend on nuanced, income-based thresholds.

2. Tax professionals tell CBS that AI can be useful for basic tasks—like summarizing tax concepts in plain language or brainstorming questions to ask a preparer—but should not be trusted to complete a full return, determine eligibility for specific credits or deductions, or handle complex, multi-state filings.

3. The article stresses that users should never upload sensitive personal data such as Social Security numbers or full tax forms into public chatbots, and reminds readers that even if AI gives bad advice, the IRS will hold the taxpayer—not the AI company—responsible for any mistakes on the return

Our tax law is so incredibly complex, and the website has to have information that was true in 2020 as well as 2025, but tax laws and tax breaks have changed so much in five years," says Caroline Bruckner 

Read the article.